Tom Armitage

Thomas Armitage (25 April 1848 – 21 September 1922) was an English first-class cricketer, who in 1877 took part in what are retrospectively recognised as the first two Test matches played by England. The players in these matches having been alphabetically sorted, Armitage is the #1 capped England player.

Life and career Armitage was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He made his first-class debut for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1872, opening the batting in the first innings. He failed to make much of an impression in the game, scoring 0 and 1, taking 0–19 from eight overs and taking no catches. He next appeared for Yorkshire in 1874 against the United South of England, but again did little.

Armitage's county cricket career took off in 1875, when he took 22 wickets in nine matches at just 7.59 apiece, including 7–27 against Derbyshire, and recorded the first of his four half-centuries, 68 not out against Surrey. In 1876, he played 12 games and claimed 45 wickets, taking 13–46 in a match against Surrey bowling underarm lobs, and making his highest first-class score, of 95, against Middlesex.

Armitage was selected for the tour of Australia that winter, and in the spring of 1877 played in the first two Test matches, both at Melbourne. He is credited with being the first player to represent England, due to alphabetical order, and is therefore number one in the order of Test caps.